Three Souls: A Novel

We begin the story with Leiyin looking down upon a funeral service and realizing she is dead and must be observing her own funeral. She is stuck between the world she has left and the afterlife. What has she done that prevents her from going to the peace of the afterlife? Why is she stuck between two worlds? Leiyin looks back upon her life and questions the decisions she has made. She takes us back to China in 1935 when the Nationalists and Communists grappled for power. Her 3 souls give her their opinions. Yang soul is scholarly and sternly logical; Yin is romantic and impulsive; Hun is wise. What should she have done differently? What is not forgivable? All three souls have their opinions.As a young girl growing up in a Nationalist household, she defied her father and fell in love with the Communist activist. She becomes his lover and thinks he will take her with him to teach the peasants in the countryside. He leaves without her. She runs away to find him but is brought back home in disgrace by her brother. Her family is outraged. Although her father is angry, he loves Leiyin, and does not send her to the streets to starve. He marries her off to a decent man of good family. Although Leiyin has disgraced her own family, her new family accepts the marriage proposal and is gratified to be connected to her family’s wealth and prestige. Leiyin is now living in the country far away from the luxury she was used to and the cultural opportunities of the towns. Although her husband is loving, sweet and supportive, she finds him boring. After she give birth to a daughter, she even considers leaving her child and going to find her old lover. She is young and selfish and lives to regret it when she finds her old lover was married even at the time when they had been lovers.This is a time of revolution in China. Leiyin endangers her family when she agrees to keep her lover’s communist manifesto document in her possession for temporary safe keeping. Her lover is eventually executed for his Communist activities, but there is brutality on both the Nationalist and Communist sides. This is a very dark period in the history of China.Three Souls is an historical novel but even more of a romance novel. It is also a coming-of-age story, but Leiyin matures after she dies. That is somewhat bizarre but interesting. Unfortunately, the characters are portrayed without much depth, so I was not drawn into the story as much as I had hoped. However, the concept of a ghost looking back at her life choices intrigued me.At first, I listened to this on Audible, but I definitely would recommend that readers buy a paperback or Kindle copy. I ended up returning the Audible and buying a Kindle copy of the book. When I listened to the Audible, I almost didn’t get beyond the first few chapters because the narrator, Emily Woo Zeller, made it hard to get pulled into the story. She did not enhance the story and did nothing to give the listener the feel of China.

I was immediately "sucked" into this story of about a woman, Leiyan, who has recently passed away and is caught between the spiritual transition along with her three souls: Yin, Yang, and Hun. She is tasked with finding out what is preventing her and her three souls from passing into the afterlife and then into reincarnation. The souls help walk Leiyan through her memories searching for the reason they are unable to pass through to the afterlife. We discover a story of a strong-willed young woman who will do anything to be with the man she loves. Going so far as to risk losing everything and everyone she loves. It is a story that explores the realizations that everything is not what it seems and sometimes the things we think we want are not what we need. It is about appreciating the things we and cherishing loved ones. In Leiyan's case, these realizations come almost too late. The only negative I can say is that there is a part in the book that felt very "unrealistic" to the story. (That sounds strange when we are talking about a spirit and her souls) It is the way Leiyan learns of her best friend's reason for being at her home, near the end of the story. The author does such a wonderful job of making the story so real and believable that I felt like I was in this world, but I found that this part in the story broke that feeling for me. It felt too convenient. So I was a little bummed after that. But when the story ended, I felt a sense of goodness and happiness. I recommend this book. It's creative and it's a good story.

As she has time to reflect on her life with her three souls Leiyin becomes a very well developed character. Unfortunately as the perception of everyone else and all the other events are through her eyes they become somewhat two-dimensional. The dealings with family Life and details of 1935 China City Life rural Life ongoing civil war struggles with the Communist party are very relevant to the history of China and the world today. I would have actually liked more detail in this story and more interactions with some of the ongoing struggles and forces that took place at that time. But this is still an excellent novel of self-reflection on our life interactions with people what the consequences are how and when and why we can deal with those things and when we then can't because we're dead and it's too late.

Leiyin awakens after her death in the company of her three souls. Through these companions, she relives the memories of the life she has left. Yang is stern, yin is impulsive, and Hun is wise and shining. The most delightful of the qualities of this book is that each soul communicates in part by sending smells to elicit emotion in Leiyin. The prose is so neatly done that the reader is taken emotionally into her memories. Leiyin is living on the edge of a world about to end. The reader knows the outcome of the battle between the Communists and Nationalists and ultimately the invading Japanese. Leiyin and her souls are oblivious throughout much of the book.Leiyin must find the errors she has made in life and atone for them before she and her souls may move on to the afterlife. I really enjoyed the premise of the book and found it added dimension to the rich setting of the wealthy Chinese life in decline. The characters are fleshed out in a masterful way. The problem of making amends as a ghost serves as a poignant problem. My only criticism would be the actual end point which I found to be a bit of a cheat. However, I would overall recommend this book.

I've never been attracted to these Chinese cultural type stories, but I thoughtI'd give Three Souls a go.And I'm really glad I did - this story was simply charming.Reading how they lived and behaved back in 1920's China is a revelation, andthe story itself, though simple and lacking in in-your-face drama, is truly beguiling.Leiyin, a young woman, opens up the book already dead. She is surrounded by herthree souls, who are duty bound to help Leiyin move on to the afterlife. But first Leiyinmust atone for her misdeeds in the life she led.The interaction between the families is educating and gradually, page by page, youreally begin to see the situation through Leiyin's eyes. And all the family problems andhopes are intermingled with the growing threat of civil war, with communist intrigue allwrapped up with the man that Leiyin falls in love with.Simply a lovely read.Check it out.

I had actually read this on my kindle but have bought it for my daughter for her birthday. It was recommended by a Canadian friend and I absolutely loved it. In the first couple of pages I was sceptical but then was drawn into the story. I really really did not want the book to end and that says it all for me. A wonderful evocative study of life in China in the early 20th century and a wonderful family saga at the same time centered around the main character. A clever way of telling the story too. I loved it!

Oh my what a read. I absolutely adored this book I literally couldn't put it down the pages just flowed at no time did it ever just sit or stagnate Fabulous read

The unusual concept of this book made it a gripping tale of a past life , delightfully written , with an engaging story line a charming book

Could pass for a new book, unbroken spine and perfectly uncreased edges.